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ISLAMABAD, Oct 20: Pakistan will host the next meeting of the Joint Peace Jirga with Afghanistan after the general election in the country and Peshawar is being considered as a possible venue.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri conveyed this to Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday when they met in Herat on the sidelines of the 17th ECO Council of Ministers’ Meeting. This was the first high level contact between the two countries after the Joint Jirga in Kabul in August.
At the meeting that went on for more than 30 minutes, Mr Kasuri was accompanied by Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin, additional secretary (Afghanistan & ECO) Khalid Khattak and director-general of foreign minister’s office Khalid Mahmud.
“The foreign minister informed President Karzai that the next Pak-Afghan Joint Peace Jirga would be held in Pakistan after the general elections,” said a statement issued by the foreign minister’s Office after the meeting.
According to the statement, the two leaders expressed satisfaction over the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Peace Jirga, which had not only reinforced the resolve of the two countries to fight against terrorism but had also improved the atmosphere between the two countries.
They also exchanged views on the follow-up steps to the decisions taken at the Joint Peace Jirga including the 50-member follow-up mechanism.
Sources privy to the meeting told Dawn that in a notable departure President Karzai’s tone was very positive and reflected a change of mood --- one that signified a shift from the blame game to evolving a partnership to tackle the common enemy of terrorism.
Significantly, President Karzai told Mr Kasuri that Afghanistan could be the “best asset for Pakistan” in the fight against the common enemy of terrorism and extremism.
“He condemned the dastardly act of terrorism in Karachi on October 18 and spoke about his telephone conversation with President Pervez Musharraf and condoled over the loss of innocent lives,” the statement said.
Mr Kasuri also held separate meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaqi and the new Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on the sidelines of the ECO Ministerial Meeting. The Turkish foreign minister accepted Mr Kasuri’s invitation to visit Pakistan.
TRILATERAL MEETING: Mr Kasuri also held a trilateral meeting with his Afghan and Iranian counterparts in Herat during which they discussed ways and means to enter into cooperation in eradicating terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime.
They agreed to hold the next trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of the three countries in Islamabad in the second half of February 2008 on the sidelines of the Third Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan.
“The proposed meeting would be attended by senior officials of their respective interior ministries, anti-narcotics authorities and law enforcement officials with a view to establishing a permanent mechanism for cooperation and sharing of information on issues of terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime; especially at the bordering areas of the three countries,” the statement by the foreign minister’s office said.ECO: Mr Kasuri while addressing the ECO ministerial meeting particularly underlined the need for a common electricity grid between the ECO member states and pushed for early implementation of the ECO Free Trade Area, the statement said.
Mr Kasuri returned to Islamabad on Saturday night after a two-day official visit of Afghanistan.
